Does palliative care shorten or lengthen life?

Palliative care treats death and dying as a normal part of life. It does not try to shorten life, nor does it try to make life longer. Instead, the palliative care team provides services to improve your quality of life throughout the advanced stages of illness. This may include managing pain and other symptoms. Some studies show that if symptoms such as pain are controlled, people will feel better and may live longer.

Learn more about:

• Voluntary assisted dying
• Finding hope

Voluntary assisted dying

It is important to understand the difference between palliative care and voluntary assisted dying.

Voluntary assisted dying is when a person with an incurable condition or illness chooses to end their life and uses medicines specially prescribed by a health practitioner. “Voluntary” means it is the choice of the person to end their life.

Voluntary assisted dying is not part of palliative care.

At this time (June 2022), voluntary assisted dying laws have been passed in all six states. In Victoria and Western Australia, voluntary assisted dying is available only for people who meet all the strict conditions and follow certain steps. Visit health.vic.gov.au or health.wa.gov.au and search for “voluntary assisted dying” to find out more about the law in these states.

Voluntary assisted dying laws in Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales are being implemented, and voluntary assisted dying is likely to start in late 2022 – early 2023. The laws in the Northern Territory and ACT are under review.

For more information and updates, visit Queensland University of Technology’s End of Life Law in Australia.